Health Education Lessons

Creative Writing in Health Education Lesson Plans

Health education lessons are a natural fit for creative writing ideas. When you design creative writing lesson plans, health education topics offer instant kid appeal! From the teamwork of sports to the curiosity and fun of learning new games and skills,from examining the health issues of our day to studying the wonders of the human body, health education lessons hold tremendous possibilities for engaging students in creative writing ideas.

The following prompts were designed using the RAFTS technique, one of the very best ways to incorporate creative writing across the curriculum. Use these prompts as examples to jumpstart creative writing components within health education lessons. Then visit this page for easy tips to create your own prompts based on topics your students are currently studying.

Health Education Lessons:

Writing Creatively About Sports

A New Sport

Role: you

Audience: your classmates

Format: rules and diagrams

Topic: a new sport

Strong Verb: develop

You are developing a brand-new sport for your physical education class. You will teach this new sport to your classmates. Write out rules for play and include any necessary diagrams.

The Play-Offs

Role: sports announcer

Audience: radio listeners

Format: live broadcast at the play-offs

Topic: last few minutes of the game

Strong Verb: write and capture

You are a sports announcer at the play-offs. For your radio audience, write out the script which captures the excitement of the last few minutes of the game.

Keep Sports and Physical Education Classes

Role: you

Audience: your principal

Format: persuasive letter

Topic: cuts to team sports and physical education
programs

Strong Verb: defend and persuade

Due to budget shortfalls, your principal is considering cuts to the school's sports teams and to the physical education classes. Write a persuasive letter to the principal, arguing for the necessity of physical education programs to complement academic subjects (a sound mind in a sound body). In your letter, also defend team sports as a means of learning to work co-operatively with others toward a common goal.

Health Education Lessons:

Writing Creatively About Nutrition

Healthy Dinner Menu

Role: you

Audience: your parents

Format: expository letter and a weekly dinner menu

Topic: healthy recipes for family meals

Strong Verb: write and explain

You are concerned about your family"s bad habit of unhealthy eating. Write an expository letter to your parents explaining the importance of a healthy diet and include weekly dinner menus of nutritious meals.

A New Restaurant

Role: owner of a new restaurant

Audience: future customers

Format: complete restaurant menu

Topic: healthy and nutritious meals

Strong Verb: plan and create

You have just opened your town's newest restaurant. You understand the importance of healthy nutrition and have decided that the menu will only feature high quality nutritious dishes. For your future customers, plan and design a tri-fold menu to be displayed on restaurant tables. Include healthy meals, beverages, and side orders.

Health Education Lessons:

Writing Creatively About Health Topics

Current Health Issues

Role: you

Audience: your classmates

Format: a persuasive paper

Topic: the most urgent health concern today

Strong Verb: explain and defend

Your class is researching the most important health concerns facing society today. Choose the topic you feel is of greatest importance. In a paper to be presented to your classmates, explain the current research about this issue and why you believe it is the most urgent one faced by society.

Fairy Tale Health

Role: author and illustrator

Audience: your classmates

Format: revised fairy tale

Topic: fairy tale characters learn to take care of their health

Strong Verb: write

You are an author of "fractured" or "twisted" fairy tales. Choose a traditional fairy tale and place the characters into a plot where they must face specific health issues and learn to take care of themselves. Write and illustrate your short story for your classmates.(For more tips on writing fairy tales, see this page.

Health Education Lessons:

Additional Suggestions for Writing Creatively

While it's always fun to write letters to fictional characters or to influential people of the past, why not write to influential people of the present? When writing to "real world" folks, students have the opportunity to get a "real world" response to their concerns, demonstrating the relevance of their studies to the "real world" out there!

Choose a purpose for writing, clearly questions regarding a current health education topic, and write letters to any of the following: